Handball Player Lucas Krzikalla Says 'I'm Gay' — First Active German Sports Professional to Come Out
Over his career professional handball player Lucas Krzikalla has played 192 games and scored 485 goals in the top division of Germany's team handball Bundesliga. He's known as a scoring threat who was termed by his team's head coach as "one of our strongest players, athletically and emotionally," reports Outsports.
This week he made an important personal announcement: He came out as gay, making him "the only team athlete in Germany's professional leagues," writes the German website MDR. He had previously come out to his family and friends.
The 28-year-old Krzikalla came out as gay in an interview with the German newspaper Welt Am Sonntag, and was profiled in a short film. broadcasted by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk.
"Today I can say it very clearly here: I'm gay, I have a boyfriend whom I love, and I'm very happy about it," he said in the Welt Am Sonntag interview.
"I've been thinking about this for a year: Why not just take that step and say you're gay? How much longer will the constant deception, the lying, and for whom anyway? There will always be idiots who say stupid things. I want to stand for what I do and not be defined by my sexuality."
The athlete introduced his boyfriend Chris to his teammates and management. "Our manager asked me where Chris and I met. After that we hugged," Krzikalla recalled. "I was really happy that Chris was so warmly received. Back then, last fall, we decided we would be open as a couple. Then I thought, I can make it official. I just didn't really know how."
A new autograph card of Krzikalla was issued that included his name and number in Pride colors.
"For something to finally change, we professional athletes must now do something ourselves," he said. "After years of discrimination, if we all have the courage, we now have the chance of actually changing something once and for all."
He added: "Every coming out is a great liberation and not just for yourself, but also for others. That's what I'm about."
Check out these pics from his IG: